Updated: 46 minutes ago


Fishing company charged with hiring illegal aliens
BY PETER DUJARDIN | 757-247-4749
4:03 PM EST, November 15, 2007
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback Text size: NEWPORT NEWS - A Newport News fishing company faces federal charges of hiring 126 illegal immigrants on its trawlers between 2003 and 2007, according to charges brought by the U.S. Attorney's office.

Peabody Corp., which operates on the small boat harbor -- a city-owned dock at the very end of Jefferson Avenue -- hired mostly Mexican immigrants on its scallop boats that go to sea for up to two weeks at a time, according to a court document filed by the government.

"It was part of the conspiracy for Peabody Corp. to systematically hire citizens of Mexico and other countries who had illegally entered the United States for purposes of employment," according to the charge filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. The company would "advise Coast Guard authorities who boarded Peabody vessels that they were not aware crew members were illegal aliens, and to continue to employ these same illegal aliens after the Coast Guard authorities had left."

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-p ... 4283.story

More articles